In an interview with CBS Thursday morning, Attorney General William Barr reacted to Robert Mueller’s press conference. When asked by Jan Crawford if Mueller was actually prevented from making a determination on obstruction of justice due to DOJ policy, Barr said he disagreed.
“He could have reached a conclusion … The opinion says you cannot indict a president while he is in office. But he could’ve reached a decision as to whether it was criminal activity.” Barr added, “When he didn’t make a decision, the Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and I felt it was necessary for us as the heads of the department to reach that decision.”
As we know, Mueller did not make any conclusion, leaving many to speculate that Mueller and his team of anti-Trump investigators didn’t have evidence of obstruction, but punted to Congress to give them the opportunity to start impeachment. Crawford asked Attorney General Barr if Mueller was signaling to Congress to act on his report. “Well, I am not sure what he was suggesting,” Barr replied. “But, you know, the Department of Justice doesn’t use our powers of investigating crimes as an adjunct to Congress.”
NEW: Attorney General Barr tells @JanCBS he “personally felt” Special Counsel Robert Mueller “could've reached a decision” on obstruction of justice by President Trump.
More on @CBSEveningNews tonight and @CBSThisMorning Friday. #CTM pic.twitter.com/b8ik2q32ZK
— CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) May 30, 2019
The full interview will air Friday on CBS This Morning.
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Matt Margolis is the author of The Scandalous Presidency of Barack Obama and the bestselling The Worst President in History: The Legacy of Barack Obama. His new book, Trumping Obama: How President Trump Saved Us From Barack Obama’s Legacy, will be published in July 2019. You can follow Matt on Twitter @MattMargolis
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